In Toronto, getting your voice heard is a matter of creativity. Whether it’s channeling World Cup vuvuzela spirit or modeling peace and harmony through meditation, inspired protesters take advantage of the G-20 platform to get their causes some attention.

TORONTO—The debate among the world’s eight largest industrialized nations is focusing on the pace deficit reduction, which all Group of Eight countries agree should be a medium-term objective, a European official told reporters Friday.

Leaders from the G-8 nations are meeting Friday and Saturday in Huntsville, Ont., ahead of a gathering of the world’s 20 largest developed and emerging economies. A debate on the best way to ensure sustainable growth as the global economy pulls out of the worst recession in decades is expected to loom large.

“The debate is not on the direction we are taking, but rather on the speed” of deficit reduction, which all G-8 countries agree should be a medium-term goal, the European official said.

But he said the euro-zone debt crisis highlights the lingering risk and fragilities still present.

Speaking at a gathering of business leaders dubbed the “B-20,” Yoon said the global economy is entering a period of low growth and greater joblessness. He said the G-20 should brace itself for a new paradigm shift in the post-crisis world.

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday the Group of Eight leading nations pledged $5 billion toward a five-year child and maternal health initiative, with non-G-8 members contributing a further $2.3 billion.

Harper said the commitment showed the continued value of the G-8 as an organization and that he believed the greater focus on accountability in the group would ensure that the money was delivered.

“Together we are committed to moving the world towards the day when women in developing countries will not die or suffer disabilities from pregnancy,” he said in a press conference.

He said the commitment represented new money from the G-8 members, with each country making a contribution. However, he didn’t give details.

TORONTO—The chief executive of VTB Group, Russia’s second-biggest bank by assets, is preparing for the sale of existing shares of stock and the pricing of new global bonds.

The stock offer will come as the Russian government cuts its ownership of the company after investing during the recession, said Andrei Kostin in an interview Friday.

The bond deal is part of the bank’s new three-year strategy launched last month, in which it will borrow up to $5 billion in debt to add to liquidity, although the composition of international bonds isn’t yet clear.

The first big march against the G-20 summit didn’t get within miles of the now-locked security fence surrounding the convention center where leaders are to meet, as police donned full riot gear to contain the crowds.

Following a peaceful rally at a downtown park Friday afternoon, protesters headed to summit site, down the broad boulevard that is University Avenue. That’s when things got less peaceful as the crowd was met by scores of officers on horseback, on foot and on bicycle. A confrontation ensued, there was an arrest and then much of the crowd dispersed. At that point a phalanx of officers cut the remaining marchers off just north of the U.S. consulate, herding them into a cul de sac that then forced them back towards where they had started. Protesters plan another march Sunday afternoon, but organizers of that event have planned a route that keeps participants well away from the perimeter fence. – Monica Gutschi

TORONTO — The European members of the Group of Eight leading countries failed to make any headway in their quest for a global tax on financial transactions Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said between sessions of a day-long meeting of heads of government.

“I have to say that the readiness to do something on this score wasn’t there,” Merkel told German television, according to a transcript released by the chancellor’s press office. “I think that this (attitude) will be reinforced tomorrow at the (Group of 20) summit with the emerging countries.”

TORONTO — European policy makers must show they have a “Plan B” ready for after the stress tests which includes being ready to pump money into the region’s banks, if needed, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Secretary-General Angel Gurria said Friday.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires on the sidelines of the Group of Eight and Group of 20 meetings this weekend, Gurria said, “You have to make people understand what happens after this has occurred.”

“If you’re ready to capitalize, you should say so. If you’re going to use the (European backstop) facilities, you should say so,” Gurria added, emphasizing “markets should know.”

The European Union signed up this month to carrying out and publishing stress tests for 25 key banks in the second half of July. Gurria said the G-20 meetings this weekend would be an opportunity for
European leaders to show they are ready to handle any problems revealed by the stress tests.

TORONTO—There was a guy in a pirate outfit. There were the socialist cheerleaders in black and red, shaking pompoms ingeniously created from garbage bags. There was a gentleman in a tartan kilt and cap.

And there were several clowns, including “Ever Ready,” decked out in camouflage, a red rubber nose, a pink boa, a purple dust mop and a medieval helmet with face mask. No knee pads, though: those were taken away by the police that surrounded the diverse group of protesters who gathered at a downtown Toronto park Friday to protest the Group of 20 summit to be held in the city this weekend.

“I can’t have kneepads, and look at all the gear they have,” Ever Ready, who would give her name only as Gwendolyn and her age at around 60, said of the dozens of police surrounding the park.

The police presence was significant, given the relatively small crowd that came out for the Day of Action organized by labor unions and left-wing groups.

Those protesting the G-20 summit in Toronto won a small victory Friday after a Canadian judge ruled police could use a sound cannon under limited circumstances only.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Labour Congress had applied for an injunction against the use of the device to control crowds, arguing it could cause permanent hearing loss if used against the crowds expected to gather outside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where the G-20 leaders are meeting.

Acknowledging that fact, the judge ruled Toronto police could use the device to communicate with the crowds, but not use the ear-splitting “Alert” function. Given the force’s current operating procedures for the sound cannon, the judge ruled that “a very real likelihood existed that demonstrators might suffer damage to their hearing.”

About G-20 Dispatches

G-20 Dispatches offers news, analysis and commentary from the sidelines of the conferences Group of Twenty, where world leaders tackle key issues facing the global economy. Contributions come from reporters and editors at The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, Dow Jones Newswires and more. Find complete coverage of the G-20 at WSJ.com/G20.